TROUBLED ONE SCHAUMBURG RETURNS TO LENDER

One Schaumburg Place, a glass and steel shopping center a stone's throw from Woodfield Mall, has been in trouble virtually since it opened in 1990. Late last week, developer Tucker Cos. of Northbrook was set to hand the property back to its lender, Bank of America Illinois, according to a Schaumburg official and local real estate sources.

Mid-America Real Estate Group of Oakbrook Terrace is scheduled to succeed Tucker as manager and leasing agent of the 650,000-square-foot mall this Friday. The transition was described as friendly, with no formal court foreclosure proceedings involved.

Tucker officials could not be reached for comment, and details of the exchange were not expected to be made public.

The center was hit by a string of bad luck. It opened in late 1990, in the midst of a recession and at the start of the worst Christmas selling season in years. Soon after, three of its anchors-Child's World, Highland Appliance and Phar Mor-announced they were closing because of financial difficulties.

All three anchor spaces remain vacant, and One Schaumburg Place is just 70% leased.

"The center badly needs another anchor tenant at the south end taking at least 60,000 square feet to complement the Montgomery Ward store at the north end," said Thomas Koenig, director of planning in Schaumburg.

"This has been the most perplexing shopping center in our community," he added. "We had always expected it to be as successful as Woodfield or any other retail complex we have."

Woodfield earlier this month unveiled a new Nordstrom department store and a major expansion, but retail observers don't expect that to affect One Schaumburg Place's marketing efforts. The tenant mix at Woodfield, they note, is decidedly upmarket from that of One Schaumburg.

"This is a great piece of real estate that needs repositioning," said Richard Spinell, senior vice-president with Mid-America. "It has a great location right off Route 53, with fine visibility. We're going to try to create more of a promotional power center, with one or two more power store tenants. We already have some candidates."

An anticipated move by DDB to the Amoco Building from 220,000 square feet in nearby Three Illinois Center is in doubt.

Needham's landlord, Metropolitan Structures, has offered to restructure the final four years on the advertising agency's lease-which extends to 1999-and also grant financial allowances for remodeling. Amoco has made a counteroffer, and Needham is continuing to listen to both sides.

"Our real estate department has told us not to pack any bags yet," said a Needham spokeswoman. "Right now, no decision has been made. Our space needs are still in review."

Brokers in the area expect a decision within two months.

Said Andrea Schuster, vice-president of leasing for M. S. Management Services Inc., a division of Metropolitan Structures: "We're negotiating with them, and we'll try to accommodate them in any way we can. They're a great tenant."

A Kansas City, Mo.-based jewelry retailer, Helzberg Diamonds Inc., is seeking 20 to 25 store sites around Chicago for its Jewelry3 chain. The company has had stores in Schaumburg and Downers Grove since last fall, and has been encouraged by their performance.

The typical jewelry store encompasses 1,000 square feet in an enclosed mall. Jewelry3 stores run 4,500 square feet and are usually freestanding.

"The stores are very promotional and destination-oriented. They don't require the traffic that a mall generates," said David Bossy, a principal with Mid-America Real Estate, which is heading Helzberg's search.

The Builders Square division of Kmart Corp. has put up for sale five store leases-in Aurora, Joliet, Schaumburg, Rockford and Waukegan. All except the Waukegan store are closed and have been replaced by larger stores nearby called Builders Square II. All the stores for sale are between 72,000 and 90,000 square feet.

According to sources, San Antonio, Texas-based Builders Square is asking about $2 million per store. Most of the leases run $6 to $7 a square foot on a net basis, compared with $8 to $9 a foot to lease similar new space.

The company won't confirm it, but retail real estate brokers say that five other stores still open-in Matteson, Bolingbrook, Elmhurst, Evanston and Hammond, Ind.-are also available for the right price.

The chain also has acquired a 14-acre parcel-currently the headquarters of Transo Envelope Co.-at Kimball Avenue and Addison Street on Chicago's Northwest Side. Builders Square is attempting to change the zoning to retail from industrial.